I can’t believe I haven’t updated my blog since December… my
how time flies! I guess I will dedicate this blog to catching you up on my last
few months so that I can start blogging about all of the weird-silly-straight-up-crazy-situations
again. Sometimes I seriously wonder if my body lets off a weird magnetic field
that directs all the weird stuff/people in the universe towards me. Just sayin…
Anyways, I think the last time I blogged was right after our big world AIDS day
event so here is how the last few months have gone
Graduations:
I dedicated the months of November and December to
graduating my groups of rural health promoters and teenage peer educators. They
had to put up with me training them for 6 months so I figured they deserved a
little celebration
Here are a couple random photos:
Preparation:
When everyone in my community found out I was going home for
Christmas they started preparing gifts for me to bring home to my family. I
ended up bringing home 75lbs of gifts that included a rug made from a rice sack
and old clothes, homemade candies made from the fruit trees in our yard (papaya
candy, coconut candy, cherry candy, etc), rum, cigars, coconuts filled with
rum, handmade jewelry, clothes, and a flask made from a cow horn. I then returned
to the Dominican Republic with a giant suitcase filled with gifts for my
community, and I realized when I got back that I hadn’t brought anything for
myself haha.
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| Host Mom Preparing Papaya Candy |
Home:
I got to go home for Christmas! It was my first time being
home after a year and 4 months so it was a little bit of a culture shock. My
mom had a bajillion doctors appointments set up for me… all in the first 36
hours of being home. The second night I was home I got to go to a fancy party
under a space ship with my old friend Nick. I felt super awkward and
uncomfortable. I mean can you imagine… a dirty hippie peace corps volunteer
fresh off the boat, so to speak, in a fancy dress and heels. Oh and we cant
forget about the conversations… lets just say the topics of the evening did not
revolve around bowel movements, worms coming out of weird orifices, or how to
kill a chicken. So I was pretty much at a loss. Luckily my date was very
gracious. In fact, he even made a joke about Dominicans not using utensils
after I dropped a piece of salmon in my lap. Oh Amanda hahaha.
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| Under the space shuttle! |
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| All cleaned up! |
Lets see… I also got to spend an amazing weekend with all of
my friends in Santa Barbara and I DROVE THE LITTLE TOOT!!!
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| Lex and I |
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| Captain O' the Lil' Toot! |
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| My FAVORITE people |
Lastly, one of my favorite people in the world, Grandpa
Fred, passed away while I was home. He was one of the best role models a girl
could ask for, and he touched so many lives with his kind heart and strict, yet
silly demeanor (this was obvious by the staggering number of people that showed
up for the service). The most important lesson he taught me is to not take
myself too seriously. Well, that, and to sing loud and proud no matter who is
watching or how horrible your voice is (those of you who were at the funeral
experienced that lesson first hand). The last time I spoke to Grandpa Fred was
Thanksgiving via skype. He sang his favorite verse of “I love you California”
(one of his favorites) loud and proud for all of my peace corps friends to
hear. I returned the favor at his funeral, and then changed the words to the
second verse in his honor. Call me crazy, but I think he heard me because the
next day a Jeep commercial came out with that exact verse of “I love you
California” and it played almost every commercial break. It may just be a
coincidence, but I choose to believe otherwise J
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Funny side note: Before I sang I said, “I’m not going to
lie, I have the worst voice in the world, but I am going to sing loud and proud
like Grandpa Fred taught me”. After the service my mother’s best friend from
high school came up to me and said “You are the most honest person I have ever
met… you really do have the worst voice in the world!” hahaha.
All in all, the service was beautiful and very fitting for a
man of his caliber. I was touched by the amount of work all of his friends and
family put into making sure he had a perfect send off. He also got a full
military service with the color guard, gunshots, bugle, etc. Overall I think he
felt the tremendous love that everyone here has for him, and he knows he will
be missed!
Back in the DR:
I have now returned to the DR and I have my work cut out for
me! I helped translate for two different medical missions. The first was a
group of plastic surgeons that were helping people with deformities such as
cleft lips, cleft palates, debilitating burns, deformed ears, etc. The second
was a group of ENT doctors who were removing thyroids, helping people with
hearing problems, removing tonsils etc. I love helping out with the different
medical missions that come to the DR because it makes me realize how much I
love working in a clinical setting. Plus, I love seeing the patients reactions
to the aid they receiveJ
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| OR Monster |
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| Cleft Lip Patient |
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| Hand deformity |
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| Cleft Lip and Palate |
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| Battery Acid Burm Patient |
One of my favorite parts of being back in the DR is getting
to spend time with my girls. My mom sent me home with baking goods so we have
been baking on my stovetop with a dutch oven. The girls LOVE it!!
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| the bride |
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| the groom |
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| flower girls |
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| being goofy. |
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| My new, noisy next door neighbor! |
The future:
I have started teaching English twice a week at the request of my teens, I will be starting my exercise and nutrition course in the next two weeks, I am waiting for my grant to come through so I can start construction on the improved cook stoves. I am holding sub-regional conferences this week for my rural health promoters and teenage peer educators, and I will continue meeting with all of them on a monthly basis. I will also continue with deportes para la vida and who knows what else! I definitely have my work cut out for me for the next 9 months!
